


Talk To Me

by ayamecchi



Category: Haikyuu!!, Prince of Stride: Alternative (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Everyone is precious, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Haikyuu Third Years Are Older Than Stride Third Years, High School, How do I tag?, M/M, Reiji is Precious, Shizuma is Team Mom, Team as Family, Ushijima is Awesome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-08 21:24:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11655030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayamecchi/pseuds/ayamecchi
Summary: For her entire life, Ichinose Ayame has waited for the moment she can finally meet her soulmate in person. It's why she went to Saisei instead of Shiratorizawa; why she stuck to Stride instead of volleyball. And all it takes is a few words to shatter that happiness.Now, nearly eight months later, when she begins her third year, her soulmate returns from whatever country he left to and wants to make amends for their fight. And it would be so easy, to just scribble on a yes and complete her childhood fantasies. But no matter what her best friend Reiji says, there's no way she's going to forgive him this easily.With End of Summer coming up, and her team having found a rival in Honan's Stride Club, it's supposed to be a lot easier to forget her soulmate. Keyword: supposed to. Never mind the fact that her heart is saying otherwise.And the fact that they're playing the same sport for opposite teams that are bound to meet eventually only fuels her dreaming mind.[Soulmate AU where anything you write can show up on your soulmate's body but no proper nouns will show up]





	Talk To Me

_It's too quiet_ , she thinks as she tiptoes into the room, a clipboard in her clenched hand—ready to hit the first person that jumps out from a corner. The boys are nowhere in sight; an alarming sight that causes the butterflies in her stomach to turn into raging dragons.

Dark eyes carefully scrutinize every inch of the room, from the pale magenta colors of the wall to the soft black carpet underneath her feet. There are no game controllers or stray action figures, nor are there any piles of manga and light novels, on the floor at least. Instead, they're tucked into the shelves lined up against the wall.

It makes her nervous.

Logically, she knows that any hiding spot they could have is far behind her. There is no way Ban-chan and Asuma's blonde hair color won't contrast against the dark colors of the couches that semi-circle the large kotatsu that Reiji had bought last year. The TV is lined up against the wall—only paper could hide there. The rest of the room is open space, with the exception of the colored beanbags in front of the large window-door that leads to the balcony.

The kotatsu, though...

 _It's long_ , she notes, eyeing it warily.  _Definitely long enough to cover all of them._

With her mind made up, she marches over with soft footsteps, swallowing the dizzying feeling that makes her feel nauseous. She grabs the blanket, bunching up the part of the fabric that's splayed out onto the floor in front of her.

 _Rip it off like a saniplast_ , she tells herself,  _no wait, what's the Japanese equivalent of bandages? Oh, who cares?_

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she pulls at the blanket with enough pressure that it exposes a lump of blond hair. A shriek rips out of her throat, and in her moment of weakness, Ban-chan moves out from under kotatsu and attempts to run. The hand that grips her clipboard steadies itself and she ends up hitting him as soon as he escapes from under the kotatsu.

"Ow," he groans, a pout lining his pink lips. "What was that for?"

"Why were you even there?" she shrieks, hugging the clipboard against her chest tightly. Her cheeks are a faint red and she's sure someone can hear her from the first floor. "Who does that?"

Ban-chan scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "...sorry?" he says, "I freaked out."

Ayame attempts to raise an eyebrow, lips pursing together as she sighs. "Why were you even there? Don't you have practice?"

The words sound stupid once they've escaped her mouth. He's wearing casual clothes; a red t-shirt and jeans, his thick hair in his usual hairstyle (hair length just above his ears), and the red and black converse that she bought him last year. Not something a person would wear to stride practice—at least not the jeans and the converse.

"Practice?" He blinks. "Is that what we're going with?"

His tone is barely a whisper, not meant to be heard by anyone else. Yet, she hears it anyway, forehead creasing as she thinks about his words.

 _...Reiji,_ she thinks _, of course._

"Did Rei-chan put you up to this?" she says finally, oblivious to the way panic lights up the blond's face. "You have a practice match with Honan next week remember? Why would he want you to skip practice?"

When the dark-haired manager finally takes a good look at his face, she notices the relieved expression on his face and the smirk-like smile that twitches on the normally sunny boy's face. "We need to rest before a match!"

"Rest days are Mondays," she deadpans. "Try again."

"Oh hey," he chirps, tapping his wrist. "Look at the time. I should get going to practice."

"No one's there," she tells him, watching as he stops right in place and almost mechanically turns around. "That's why I came here. Shizuma figured one of you would be here. You wouldn't happen to know why they aren't there, would you?."

Ban-chan mutters something that sounds almost suspiciously like "Damn, Shizuma," under his breath before looking at her with a smile. "Nope!"

Her gaze sharpens, causing the other teenager to gulp. "Really? You don't know why Shizuma wanted me to check here instead of going to Reiji's with him?"

"Really?" he stammers out. "I didn't know that."

One of Galaxy Standard's songs pierce through the tense silence (she recognizes it as Ban-chan's ringtone for Reiji), forcing Ban-chan to pull out his phone. Unable to resist the curiosity, she walks over to him and stands close enough to his side that she can read whatever it is Reiji had texted.

(01:49)  **Sorry**  
(01:50)  **Shizuma didn't know you were still there**

"Didn't know my ass," she murmurs under her breath.

Ban-chan tenses slightly beside her. "Uh, surprise?"

His grip on his phone loosens enough for her to roughly snatch it out of his right hand. Immediately, she attempts to back away from Ban-chan so that she has a decent chance of texting Reiji.

 _Now what do I do?_ she wonders. Grabbing the phone had been an automatic response and she doubts she has enough time to lecture Reiji with Ban-chan slowly approaching. _Do I just keep it? Or do I call him?_

With her mind made up, she takes one look at Reiji's nickname and exists the messenger. It doesn't take her long to find the calling app and the fact the Reiji is the most recent call helps matters immensely. A hand reaches for the phone in her hand but she quickly presses call and then speaker.

Her mouth can't seem to open itself in time to talk to Reiji and Ban-chan manages to wrestle the phone back from her.

"Hah!" he cheers loudly. "Got it back!"

 _"...Ban-chan?"_  Reiji's voice fills the room, confusion dripping off his words in excess.  _"Are you alright?"_

Ban-chan freezes, throwing her pleading look.  _Please don't say anything_ , his expression seems to say. And while usually she might agree, today her pride seems to have taken a bad hit.

 _Sorry_ , she mouths to him.

"Where are you?" she shrieks, annoyed at the way her throat seems to dry up and her voice seems to become hoarse. "Practice is written on my schedule but no one's here!"

 _"...is that Ayame-san?"_  Kaede, the cute first year that she has a soft spot for, questions, a fearful tone in his words.

 _"Screams like her,"_  someone—Tasuku, no doubt—laments.  _"And we were so close too. Almost surprised her."_

 _"Ban-chan,"_  the other blond of the team wails dramatically.  _"How could you! I trusted you!"_

"...what surprise?"

The cacophony that is Saisei's remaining members stops abruptly.

Reiji clears his throat, chuckling nervously—and unconvincingly.  _"What surprise? We don't know any surprise._ " She can imagine Reiji flashing her the charming grin that makes girls swoon but she's long since been immune to it.

"Right. Of course," she tells him skeptically. "I believe you."

" _Really?"_  Kaede sounds so hopeful that it kind of breaks her heart when she brings out the punchline.

"No."

The other members groan in unison but Ban-chan remains suspiciously quiet. His eyes seem to focus on the calendar that hangs on the wall adjacent the large floor-to-ceiling window, shoulders slumping.

"Sorry," he mumbles. "I messed up. I know it was super important."

Suddenly, Ayame feels incredibly terrible for pushing the matter when Ban-chan seems so sad over it. "Hey, hey. Most of us are terrible at keeping secrets. If any of the others went, I'd probably find out from them too."

_Is that comforting? No wait, it kind of makes me sound shitty and prideful. Shit, I'm so terrible at this. Where are those latent motherly instincts when I need them the most?_

Unsurprisingly enough (though still surprising because  _I didn't even know he was there, when did he leave the building?_ ), it's Shizuma who steps up and comforts Ban-chan.  _"It's my fault too,"_  he says gently.  _"I sent Ayame-san there without checking if you were there. It isn't just your fault."_

"But I messed up last year too!" he protests. "That one was my fault!"

 _"Reiji forgot to mention that it was secret,"_  Asuma points out easily, causing Reiji to yelp.

 _"I thought it was obvious! I didn't realize how good Aya-chan is!"_  he protests.

Tasuku chimes in,  _"You've known her the longest."_

 _"What? Not fair!"_  the captain of Saisei complains.  _"Tasu-chan, I thought you'd be on my side."_

There's some rustling in the background and she assumes Reiji must've hit someone with a pillow (it would be considered sad that she could tell this but it's mostly hilarious). Meanwhile, a small smile forms on Ban-chan's face.

"I guess," he agrees. "But it was our last chance for Ayame-san!"

( _What? What last chance? Why?_ The tiny hamsters in her brain stop abruptly and hold up hand-made signs that say variations of the same thing.

"We need a raise!" the head one demands, the others nodding their heads in agreement.)

 _"Speaking of that monster_ _,"_ Tasuku interjects and she bristles at the nickname.  _"Where is she?"_

"Right here," she squeaks. "Does this have to do with my birthday by any chance?"

It sort of makes sense for the following reasons: one, this is a actually the second birthday Ban-chan, Reiji, Asuma, and Shizuma have acknowledged—she'd forgotten to mention it in her first year—and two, her actual birthday is next week, on Saturday. Except that Galaxy Standard have an interview and a photoshoot scheduled back to back, plus the time it takes to get to Kyoto in the first place and back. By the time they would get back, she would undoubtedly be exhausted and fall asleep immediately.

They don't respond to her so she takes their silence to mean a yes.

"You know we can celebrate it on Sunday, right? This is all sweet and all but it's not..." she trails off, searching for the right word. "You don't have to, you know?"

She regrets her words as soon as she says them. The members of the team begin protesting (loudly, except for Kaede who stammers and stutters but probably has the most solid argument).

 _"Please,"_  Tasuku snorts.  _"Who else is going to throw you a party? Not that asshole you have to call soulmate and your parents live in Torono Town—in_ ** _Miyagi_** _."_

In the silence that ensues, you can hear a pin drop. She can hear Shizuma chide him softly and the soft look that Ban-chan gives her. Soulmates are something she tries her best to ignore—it's a recent thing so it takes time and sometimes people can't help but open old wounds. What shocks her most is the vehemence with which Tasuku says this.

 _He cares!_ she thinks instead, her eyes burning as a pleased smile forms on her lips.  _That's the sweetest thing he's ever said to me._

She sniffles, rubbing her eye with one hand while her grip on her clipboard tightens. "I didn't know you cared that much," she coos with a straight face, even though Tasuku can't see her. "That's so sweet!"

Someone snickers (Asuma, probably—Shizuma is too motherly, Reiji is too good-natured, Kaede is still a little shy, and Ban-chan looks like he's holding up well); her suspicion is confirmed once Asuma echoes her words mockingly, yelping when Tasuku throws, what she assumes is, a pillow at him.

 _"Hey!"_  Asuma protests. She imagines he's probably raising his hands up in defense, a defensive look on his face.  _"You can't hit me every time I joke about something!"_

 _"Try me,"_  the ginger deadpans.

A giggle escapes her lips and she places her free hand on her waist, a question poised on her lips. "There was something about a surprise?"

 _"It's not a surprise anymore,"_  Reiji points out.  _"You found out."_

 _"Yes but,"_  Kaede jumps on, sounding nervous.  _"We can still have the party right? It's just not a surprise."_

The manager doesn't notice Ban-chan retreat towards the shelves, attempting to sneakily take a board game and the pouch that contains its pieces. It's only when he taps her shoulder and grins that she notices what he has in his hands.

"Shizuma? Would you mind picking us up now? I have the game now."

"That's what you came here for?" she asks incredulously. "Ludo?"

In his hand is the board for Ludo—a game she used to play with her maternal cousins back in Pakistan before she came to Saisei—and the tacky pouch where she keeps the sixteen four-colored pieces and the two dice that come with it.

 _"Of course,"_  Reiji tells her enthusiastically.  _"It's your favorite game, right?"_

 _These idiots._  Ayame smiles softly.

"Yeah, it is," she agrees.

+++

Shizuma arrives nearly thirty minutes later, an apologetic look on his face as he explains that he was held up by traffic. The two are quick to reassure him as they wait for Shizuma to open the door (Shizuma is quite prickly about them opening the door by themselves) so they can sit. It takes thirty more minutes for them to arrive at Reiji's house—the ride is filled with quips and taunts throughout.

("I'm calling yellow!" she announces to Ban-chan, who giggles and tells her to tell that to Asuma.

"But you're my witness," insists Ayame.

"Witness?" He tilts his head skeptically.

"Yeah, first come first serve," she says. "So there needs to be someone who can confirm that."

She doesn't need a witness—being birthday girl has its perks. But Ban-chan has a habit of overthinking things and there is no way she's letting him do that today—aka the day he worked so hard for.

Ban-chan smiles half-heartedly, looking at her like he knows exactly what's going on in her head. "Sure.")

By now, the two have been to Reiji's house enough times that they know where his room is; nevertheless, they still let Shizuma lead them to the captain's large bedroom. They glide over the stairs like mock royalty (they've never let it go that Reiji has a Disney Princess-esque stairway) and pass through a hallway of pictures while silently laughing (mostly at Reiji) until they reach the last door in the corridor.

Before they can enter, the door flings open, revealing the rest of the team. Unsurprisingly, Reiji is the first one that darts towards them, first engulfing her in a hug, then Ban-chan, and finally beaming at Shizuma. Asuma lingers nearby, exchanging soft looks with Ban-chan and a happy birthday with her.

("You too," she says stupidly, wondering if there's something going on between those two.

 _Ugh, stupid_ , she scolds herself,  _not every cute look exchange means something._

The corners of Asuma's lips quirk up into a half-smile. "My birthday is in December, but okay."

"It's an early birthday wish," she blurts out, much to her annoying kouhai's amusement.)

Next on the list is Tasuku, who shoves the box collection of her favorite manga  into her free hands. "You wanted this." He glares at her as if it's her fault that he went through the trouble of getting her a present.

She wants to laugh at the way his annoyed scowl and faked disinterest clash against his angry blush. "Thank you," she manages to spit out instead, the corners of her lips curling into a creepy grin all on their own.

Tasuku immediately retreats back to  the room, much to Reiji's exasperation.

"He said he'd try!" Reiji pouts while Asuma laughs. "And he gave it before it was time!"

"Well he got me this," she offers, waving her present around. "Better than the more practical stationery set he got me last year."

Ban-chan nudges the grumbling Reiji and the rest of them enter the room, only to be immediately attacked by various shades of purple. Decorations, also purple, hang across the walls and balloons lay in a pile underneath Reiji's desk that's pushed to the farthest corner. There's a small picnic blanket on the opposite side of where Tasuku and Kaede have taken their seats, with a picnic basket and everything.

_He wasn't outside, was he?_

"Nice place," Ayame comments.

All of the boys are wearing t-shirts and jeans—Tasuku's is a full-sleeved green one with a black cat on it; Reiji wears a black half-sleeved t-shirt with a white hoodie on top; Shizuma wears something similar to Reiji, only with a light lilac t-shirt instead; Kaede's choice of casual include a white t-shirt with red and blue stripes; Asuma wears a yellow graphic t-shirt with a pikachu on it. All of them are in their socks that have cute patterns on themselves—she recognizes them as the mock present she's taken to given the team every year since last year.

In a way, she feels isolated wearing a creme sleeveless dress with a black cardigan and black jeans (at least, she has the sock part down).

"We worked on it this morning," Reiji brags, and his chest puffs up slightly as he takes his spot next to Kaede.

The poor thing looks incredibly nervous.

The rest of them follow Reiji's lead and sit in a circle of sorts as Ban-chan begins to set up the game.

"So." She claps her hands together, taking off her cardigan and throwing it on Reiji's bed. "Who wants to explain this game to Kaede-chan?"

All eyes turn to her.

She laughs nervously. "Okay then, let's pick our teams first. Who wants to be on whose team?"

Immediately, a chorus of echoes ensues. The manager silently counts the people in the room, frowning when the total doesn't tally up enough for four teams. She voices this out loud, gaze darting from person to person as she thinks up the possible teams.

_Asuma and Ban-chan. Kaede-chan and Tasuku. Reiji and...wait, is Shizuma playing?_

"Shizuma, are you playing?" she inquires, rearing her head to where he's sitting on Reiji's bed.

"I think I'll watch instead," he says politely.

She nods her head. "Mhmm, so Reiji and I can play on our own. Ban-chan, be with Asuma. Tasuku, be with Kaede-chan. That okay with everyone?"

Tasuku raises an eyebrow, glowering in the way a kid brother might, but claims the color red for him and Kaede nonetheless.

 _Good_. She smiles happily. Really, Tasuku is the only one who she thinks has trouble pairing up. So pairing him up with Kaede, who's new, seems like a good idea.

(She never knew how much Tausku adored freshmen until now.)

"Umm so the rules of the game are pretty simple, Kaede-chan. The goal is to get in here"—She taps the center of the board, where there's a square like shape split in four colored pieces—"but you can only enter once you've gotten your  _tor_. That's an Urdu word by the way."

From the corner of her eye, she can see Kaede nod seriously.

"Anyway, the way you get it is, like, basically..." she stumbles a bit with her words. "You have to get a number that leads you to sit on a spot where a piece was sitting. The piece has to go inside these big colored boxes." She taps the corner boxes this time.

"Oh and you can do it any time you like, and it gives you an extra turn. Getting inside these middle things does that too. And you can only come out from these corner ones with a six. When all four of your pieces are inside, you win."

The small cylinder that contains the two dices is passed until they reach her. She grips it tightly, covering the lid so that the dices don't fall out. "Just watch me okay," she tells Kaede, throwing the dice onto the table.

They roll and roll until one stops and the other soon follows. At the number she gets, the dark-haired girl's face falls.

"Really?" she spits out venomously. "A one and a three?"

Ban-chan laughs lightly. "Careful, Kaede-chan," he teases. "Ayame-chan becomes a monster when we play this game."

"She already is a monster," the second year ginger-head mutters, glaring at the dices as if they've personally offended him. "We don't need her growing her wings too."

Ayame scowls as she throws the dices back in the cylinder and passes it on to Reiji, who sits in front of the blue corner square. "You wanna go?"

"Ignore her," Asuma whispers, leaning in closer to Kaede as if to tell an important secret. "She's just annoyed her lucky charm isn't working as well from the get-go."

Reiji throws the dice and his numbers are slightly better—a five and a four. "Do you think we can add a one to that five? We can borrow it from the four," he says, half-jokingly and half-mournfully.

"No, thanks." Tasuku snatches the cylinder and throws the dice in, before throwing them out. "Huh, a six and a one."

"What?" screeches Ayame, lowering her voice back to normal volume wen Shizuma throws her a disapproving look. "You didn't even roll it properly!"

"I guess I have better skill," Tasuku says carelessly, before moving his piece.

Kaede looks at the two nervously. "Shouldn't we hand the dices over to Asuma-kun and Ban-chan?"

Ayame glares at the two in question. "Hurry up," she says grumpily.

"Welcome to a normal Saturday," someone murmurs under their breath.

"I thought this was supposed to be special?"

"The picnic is," Reiji says. "The game isn't. It's pretty much tradition except it's usually for game night."

"Wooh!" Asuma cheers, causing everyone to turn to them—Ban-chan throws her an apologetic look. "A six and a five! Way to go, Ban-chan!"

Eye twitching, she takes the offered cylinder from Ban-chan, shaking it while she waits for the two to move their piece.  _On the first turn too_ , she thinks.  _No fair._

The dices escape from the cylinder when she accidentally tilts it, revealing a four and a five.

"Didn't Reiji-san get that before?" Tasuku comments.

Her eye twitches. Again.

Reiji receives the cylinder with a nervous smile, shaking it gently before releasing the dices onto the board.

"Are you kidding me?"

The captain of Saisei shrugs before picking his piece and placing it on the right block. He hands it over to Kaede and shoots the first year an encouraging look.

Kaede ends up rolling a six and a four, much to her chagrin.

The rest of the game follows in a similar suit, with Ayame on the losing side. Tasuku looks victorious and only taunts her a few times before she wins the second one with Shizuma (Reiji pouts and complains about how his best friends are against him now—Shizuma promises to play for his team next). They play back and forth, each team winning at least once and rubbing it in the other team's faces until they start to lose.

Somewhere between that time, Shizuma places the picnic basket next to them and the seven quickly devour the sandwiches (and the occasional junk food) that are inside. By the time they've finished, they're exhausted themselves and their throats from all the excitement and screaming.

"Dinner, first," Shizuma says sternly when Reiji asks if they can stay.

"But they can?"

Sighing, Shizuna melts at Reiji's expression and agrees, "I'll see what the head butler says."

"Adorable," Ayame comments, stretching her arms. "I wish my brother would do that."

The ginger scowls. "He's in Miyagi. How can he do that?"

"Yeah, but when I'm back home for break and stuff."

Tasuku doesn't speak up.

(Later at night, when she can't sleep, she walks over to the balcony, careful not to wake anyone up. Reiji's there already, watching the stars intently.

"I think I did something wrong," she blurts out, keeping her voice low. "Tasuku seemed kind of mad."

Reiji hums. "I think he's jealous."

"...jealous? Of who?"

"Zain," he answers.

"As in my brother?" She leans against the railing, contemplating his words. "You really think so?"

"You're not gonna ask why?"

"He thinks of me as a sister, am I right?" she questions. "He's a better brother than my own, actually."

The purple-haired boy grins. "You should tell him that."

She furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "How? Oh wait, when's his birthday? July right?"

"That's like"—Reiji pauses, counting the months—"nearly a month away. Tell him tomorrow."

"Fine," she grumbles in agreement, slightly thankful for him telling her what to do. "With my luck I'll blurt it out like an idiot."

"No kidding.")

"Uh, Ayame-chan?" Asuma calls out to her, pointing at her lower arm as he stands up from his seat. "What's that?"

"What?" She says absentmindedly, taking a look at her arm. "It's looks like—oh."

On her arm, three words are written in cursive English instead of the rounded Kanji she had become used to in the past. She shows it to the others.

"Just my soulmate." She smiles forcefully.

A chain reaction of murmurs begin and she's greeted with frowns (everyone except Tasuku and Asuma) and scowls (from Tasuku and Asuma). Even Kaede, who's new, seems to realize this is—well not a bad thing but close enough.

At that moment, Reiji gets a text from Shizuma telling him that the head butler agreed (he didn't call the parents because only Reiji, Asuma, and Shizuma have houses in Tokyo but he did alert everyone's roommates) and to come down stairs. Dutifully, and almost like little children going to school, they line up and head down stairs—from Reiji in the front and Asuma in the back.

"You okay?" Asuma murmurs. He doesn't mention how she seems pretty out of it.

"I'll cover it up with one of Reiji's arm bands," she whispers to him, silently cursing to herself for taking off her cardigan today.

Regardless, the words still echo in her mind.

_'I miss you.'_

**Author's Note:**

> Okay wow, this is so long. So this'll probably be around 30 chapters, maybe more since I'm covering April to March (So the stuff after End of Summer is entirely mine). Also, apparently Sasei has a satellite campus in Tokyo for its idols and celebrities. Who knew?


End file.
